Project Zenith
by Winged Ether
Summary: Project Zenith, which aimed to create powerful cloned Pokemon, was cancelled before its completion. The first subject, a clone of Uxie, survived and revived the project. Now the new clones must escape the humans who seek to destroy them. OC's needed.
1. Prologue

_New story! Don't worry, we'll update Crescent Nightmare eventually..._

**That wasn't very reassuring.**

_Hush, you! Anyway, here we are, another Pokemon OC submission story! Um, hope you enjoy! Leave us an OC if you do!_

**Disclaimer: We don't own Pokemon.**

**Project Zenith**

**Prologue**

Somewhere in Sinnoh, miles out into a quiet forest inhabited only by Pokémon, a large, silent laboratory lay, completely abandoned. Inside, it was almost pitch-black due to the lack of power, but the rooms were filled with glass tanks and machinery, most of which were inactive. However, in the corner of a small, forgotten room, a single tank and machine beside it were operating. The glass container was filled with a green liquid, and a small Pokémon was floating inside, appearing to be asleep.

This Pokémon was an Uxie, but it's normally red jewels on its forehead and two tails were clear like diamonds. It was completely still, though very much alive. The large device beside the tank gave off whirring and beeping noises that were amplified by the silent darkness. The readings on the mechanism's screen showed that the Uxie's vitals were stable, and that its brainwaves were strong and active. Suddenly, a strange sound emanated from the glass container, and the liquid inside began to drain. Soon it was all gone, and the Uxie remained hovering in place. Its forehead gem began to glow with a blue light, and the nearby machine was surrounded in a similar aura. A couple buttons were pressed down by Psychic, and the glass covering began to slide down back into the tank's base.

The Uxie smiled as he floated out of his confinement, and after making sure there was nothing living around, he slowly opened his eyes. The energy behind them gave off a bright white light that illuminated much of the room, but nothing was harmed by its memory-erasing power since nothing there was sentient.

The Uxie began talking quietly and quickly to himself. "Cloning procedure successfully completed. Estimated time of process completion is one year."

He flew throughout the lab, inspecting every room and everything inside them. "Structural support is stable. No evidence of weakness or fault, a very well-made base. Machinery and cloning tanks are fully operational, though inactive at the moment. Electrical power will need to be restored if the facilities are to be put to use."

The Uxie was very intelligent, but at the moment, his knowledge was restricted to what the human scientists had given him during his development. They only told him a few things: that he was a clone created from DNA of the real Uxie, that he was part of a secret project, and the procedures for completing his growth. He had put this knowledge to use when the scientists left, using his psychic powers to manipulate the working machines from inside his tank.

The Uxie dwelled on this as he continued inspecting. "All machinery and equipment are still accounted for. Liquidized oxygen is abundant; all materials needed for the cloning process are present. Building is relatively clean, though a thin layer of dust has formed. That will need to be removed later. Estimated time since abandonment is two months."

Entering another small room, his eyes illuminating everything inside, he caught sight of an unorganized pile of papers on an office desk. He floated over and lifted them up with Psychic, reading through all of the papers within a minute. When he was done, he set them down and closed his eyes, the room being blanketed in darkness once more.

After a few moments of silence, the Uxie clone began recounting the basics of what he had read out loud. "Project Zenith. Purpose was to create artificial Pokémon from the DNA of natural-born Pokémon, though with increased power that greatly exceeds that of the original. Project unexpectedly terminated after ten months. Cause is due to fear of possible consequences of creating subject Pokémon that may be too powerful to control."

He paused again, thinking things over, and then continued. "Subject 001, clone of the legendary Pokémon Uxie. Only clone made, still in progress. Deprivation of nutrition for development is planned on the day of termination." That was strange, the Uxie clone thought. He was apparently scheduled to be removed from his tank and left to die once all the scientists had left, yet here he was, fully alive.

He reached a conclusion fairly quickly. One of the scientists must not have agreed with the cancellation of Project Zenith. He must not have wanted everything they worked towards to be destroyed and for it all to be for nothing. Now that he thought about it, he remembered being taken away from the main experimentation room by one of them and put into the tank that he had resided in for the past two months. The room was out of the way; no one came to inspect it before they left. That man must have been the one who was supposed to get rid of him, but instead, he taught him the procedures for the process so that he could complete it himself. That man was the only one who cared that the clone had gained sentience before it was fully developed.

It wasn't really important how it happened, though; he was alive, and that was all that mattered. "Project Zenith… a wonderful name. A name is essential in creating an identity, after all. I am not the original Uxie, so this is what I will call myself; Zenith."

The newly named Zenith left the room and flew to the very end of the hallway. To the right was a locked room. The lock was a scanner that reacted to certain DNA, but since there was no power, the door was incapable of opening. Not that it bothered Zenith, of course; he could teleport. So with one quick flash of light, he was on the other side.

While he couldn't see them directly with his eyes closed, his psychic abilities allowed him to know what was in the room just the same. It was a storage room and the walls were lined with shelves. On each shelf there were dozens of small containers holding fur, feathers, scales, and anything of the sort. It was the Pokémon DNA storage room.

A smile found its way onto Zenith's face; he was absolutely delighted. His scientific and calculating mind was already coming up with possibilities for what he could do with his find. He quickly settled on the one that he liked the most.

"Project Zenith was cancelled ten months after it began. Now, it will begin again two months after it ended." Zenith said, lifting one of the containers, which contained small white hairs, up to his face with Psychic. "I will finish it. The project will see its completion. There will be others like me."

**~OC Template~**

Name: _(If your OC is a clone, it picks its own name, but other than that, pretty self-explanatory)_

Species: _(I'll take a few legendaries, but they should be small enough to fit into a cloning tank)_

Gender:_ (Male or Female, legendaries get genders)_

Experiment number: _(Not that important, but Zenith tends to refer to characters by their number rather than their name. Clone only)_

Clone or Hunter: _(Clones are Zenith's creations, Hunters are the Pokémon sent by the humans to capture or kill the clones)_

Personality: _(You all know this, the more detailed, the better!)_

History:_ (You really only need to do one of these if the OC is a hunter. Clones don't really have histories, but you can still put something if you want)_

Moves: _(No more than six, please)_

Thoughts on main characters: _(Thoughts on Zenith and Shard)_

Other: _(Most clones have an appearance difference that sets them apart from others of their species. Any clothing, appearance differences, anything else that needs to be put here)_

**~Examples~**

Name: Zenith

Species: Uxie

Gender: Male

Experiment number: 001

Clone or Hunter: Clone

Personality: Zenith is a scientist, through and through. As a clone of Uxie, his intelligence is one of the highest in the world, but he seeks new knowledge now that he is fully developed. He sees the clones he creates as a chance to watch the growth of newborn Pokémon and see what it is that causes changes in things like personalities and such. He talks at a fast and blunt pace, and doesn't really care about feelings so long as he gets his point across. Nonetheless, though, he sees himself as the leader of the cloned Pokémon, and is determined to protect them. He sees the world and everything in it as experiments for him to observe and analyze.

History: The first clone created from Project Zenith. He revived the project on his own and created all of the other clones, giving them basic personalities so that he could watch their mental growth and development.

Moves: Psychic, Future Sight, Extrasensory, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Protect

Thoughts on Shard: "Such innocence, it is truly interesting. I gave you a warm and sweet personality, true, but I am interested to see how these feelings grew into what they are now. I shall continue to observe you."

Other: Zenith has clear, diamond-like gems on his forehead and tails.

Name: Shard

Species: Pachirisu

Gender: Female

Experiment number: 008

Clone or Hunter: Clone

Personality: Shard has the mind of a young, hyperactive child. She is always active and doesn't like to stay still for long periods of time. She is almost always cheerful and innocent, though she can also be very naïve. She is the nicest of the cloned Pokémon, always showing warmth and affection towards others and never saying anything bad on purpose. Despite the way she acts, Shard understands a lot that goes on, and is smarter than most give her credit for.

History: The eighth clone created, and Zenith's seventh creation.

Moves: Discharge, Swift, Thunder Wave, Hyper Fang, Sweet Kiss

Thoughts on Zenith: "You're like our daddy! You take care of us since we're clones, so you're kind of like our parent!"

Other: Shard's cheeks are light blue.


	2. The First Set

_Yay, second chapter!_

…**I can't think of anything to say. Just roll the disclaimer and let's get started already.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Pokémon. We do own Zenith, Shard, and some of the OC's that will appear later.**

**Chapter 2: The First Set**

Six months had passed since Zenith had awakened and made the decision to continue the goal of Project Zenith: to create clones that were the strongest of their species. The Uxie clone had gotten most of the lab back in working condition; he had restored power to the building thanks to the electric Pokémon out in the forest, and many of his cloning tanks were full. He had organized the tanks into sets, each of which consisted of three working containers. The first of these sets was very close to completion.

The Uxie clone himself had taken a whole year to develop fully, but that was due to the fact that he was a legendary and that humans were the ones creating him. Zenith's intelligence had grown to greatly exceed that of the scientists, however, and frequently, when he was sure all of his experiments were safe and stable, he would leave the lab to explore Sinnoh and gather new knowledge on it. He had found out the location of the lab from this; they were in the forest area above the Floaroma Valley Windworks, though still miles away from human civilization. He also learned more about Sinnoh's technology, and sometimes took some of it back with him. He made adjustments to the cloning procedures and utilized his new equipment to make modifications to the machines. The end result was a cloning process that, for most of the clones, took half as long as it had for Zenith.

Today, Zenith chose to remain at the laboratory instead of leaving. According to his calculations, one of his clone sets was finally going to be finished today, and this excited him to no end. He would now be able to begin the next step of his experiment; to observe and analyze the clones' mental development. After a few minutes of flying, he entered the room that contained his subjects.

This room contained three cloning tanks, all against the far wall. The one to the left had a Croconaw floating in the liquidized oxygen. The clone was female, and her head crest was a deep blue color and flopped over to the right side of her head. The middle tank contained a female Pachirisu with light blue cheeks. The last container had a male Luxio with a blue-tipped mane inside. All three were asleep at the moment.

"Cloning set 03. Subjects 006, 008, and 011. Development process near-complete. Estimated time to awakening is within ten minutes." Zenith said to himself as he checked the three clone Pokémons' vital signs. The screens showed that they were all perfectly healthy, with no flaws.

Within eight minutes, the machines began to make the same strange sounds that they had made when his progression had been completed. Like before, the green liquid began to drain out of the three Pokémons' tanks, leaving them resting peacefully at the bottom. Zenith's forehead gem glowed once more as he deactivated the tanks, freeing the three clones.

Now that they were out, the three began to awaken. The Croconaw and Luxio looked around in confusion at their surroundings, but the Pachirisu had a much more different reaction. As soon as she caught sight of Zenith floating before them, she gave a squeal of happiness and leapt at him. She was stopped in midair a moment before contact, her body surrounded in a blue aura. She was gently set down on the ground, and the Uxie smiled at her.

"My apologies. I'm not used to physical contact, though I did expect your actions, given the personality I created for you." Zenith said.

The Luxio clone shook to fling off the remaining liquid from his fur, then spoke. "What do you mean? Who are you?"

The Uxie's smile grew wider at this. "I am Zenith, Subject 001 of Project Zenith. I created you three, and numerous others who are still in differing stages of growth."

The Croconaw cocked her head to the side. "Created us…?"

"Indeed. Project Zenith was a human attempt to create high-powered clones of real Pokémon. I was the first, and though the project was shut down, I brought it back and created all of you." Zenith explained.

"Oh, so you're like our daddy!" The Pachirisu clone exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"In a sense, though I suppose you can call me that, 008." Zenith responded.

"Wait, 008?" The Croconaw asked.

"Her experiment number. I find it easier to keep track of all my creations if I can identify them by a number. You, for example, are 006, and he is 011." Zenith said, pointing one of his tails at the Luxio.

"Where are all the other numbers before us?" The Croconaw clone asked.

"Still in development." Zenith said. "The idea to organize you all into sets based on rooms did not occur to me until I had created a large amount of you. Before, I simply gave you all your own room, then started grouping you together when the number of empty areas decreased."

"Can we have real names? Being a number feels… weird." The Croconaw finished uncertainly.

"Of course you may. A name is essential in creating an identity, which is exactly what I want from you. Feel free to choose one." The Uxie clone answered.

"Yay, a name! I want a name!" The Pachirisu cried, running around in circles. The other three clones looked at her oddly in silence for several seconds.

The Luxio finally broke the silence. "So, we're clones?"

"Yes, you are artificial Pokémon, created from the DNA of natural-born Pokémon. However, you have also been genetically enhanced to be the most powerful of your species. You are at the zenith of your power, so to speak, hence the name, Project Zenith. Though, I am quite certain that you have the potential to become even stronger." The Uxie explained further.

"So that means we're not real Pokémon." The Luxio finished.

"No, you are real, just not natural. None of us are." Zenith said solemnly. A smile returned to his face just as quickly as he said, "I look forward to studying you, but I have to attend to the other cloning sets. Choose a name, if you want, and you are free to explore the laboratory. Do not tamper with anything, though. Good bye!"

With that, the Uxie teleported out of the room, leaving the three clones alone. The Croconaw and Luxio sat down in opposite corners of the room, while the Pachirisu continued to run around, chasing her tail. They stayed like this for a good ten minutes until the Luxio broke the silence once more.

"I like Sable." He said. The comment was so out-of-the-blue that the Pachirisu stopped running, and she and the Croconaw looked at the other clone in confusion. He saw this and immediately looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact.

"What?" The Croconaw asked.

"I like Sable as a name." The Pokémon repeated. "Aren't you going to pick a name?"

"I'm still thinking of one." The Croconaw said.

"I want a name!" The Pachirisu cried out and began running around the room and jumping on all the equipment. In her excitement, she knocked over a glass beaker and it fell to the floor with a crash that made both of the other clones wince.

The hyperactive Pokémon jumped down and looked at the shattered remains of the beaker. "That's a lot of glass shards… ooh, that'll be my name! Shard!"

The newly-named Shard continued running around while Sable and the unnamed Croconaw watched in awkward silence.

"…I think I'll go with… Vienna, I guess. I don't know why, it just sounds nice." The Croconaw finally decided.

"That's a nice name!" Shard squealed, rushing up to Vienna so quickly that Sable blinked and missed it. "Do you want to go exploring with me? Do you, do you, do you?"

"Um… sure?" Vienna answered uncertainly, earning an ecstatic shriek from the Pachirisu clone.

Said clone then turned to Sable. "You'll come too, right?"

Sable looked surprised at the request, then turned away awkwardly. "I think I'll stay here a little longer…"

"Aw, come on, please? Please, please, please, please, pleeeease?" Shard begged.

"Uhh… okay, I'll- WAH!" Sable cried out as the Pachirisu clone rushed over and tackled him in a hug, knocking him over.

"Thank you! You're the best friends ever!" Shard squealed. She jumped off the poor Luxio and ran out the door and into the hallway.

As Sable picked himself back up, Vienna gave him a shy smile. "So… are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Sable replied, walking out of the room. Vienna followed him.

When they exited into the hallway, Shard ran up to them, holding something. "Look what I found!"

The object was a small raindrop-shaped pendent attached to a necklace string. "Isn't it pretty?" She asked.

"Yes, it's very pretty." Vienna smiled, looking at the pendent with interest.

Shard noticed this and held it out to the Croconaw clone. "Here! You can have it! I can tell you like it, so, here you go!"

"Really?" Vienna asked. Shard nodded eagerly, so Vienna gave her a grateful smile and took it, placing it around her neck. The water droplet gave off a soft glow upon contact.

"Come on, let's go explore! This place is huge!" Shard chirped and ran down the hallway. Vienna and Sable exchanged odd looks, shrugged, and ran after her.

Around the corner at the opposite end of the hallway, Zenith smiled at what he had just witnessed. "How interesting. 008's overly-friendly behavior clashes with 006 and 011's shy natures, but they get along nonetheless. I believe I will learn a lot from this experiment."

He turned away and prepared to teleport. "Now, let's check on 010's progress." With that last sentence and a flash of light, the Uxie was gone.

**~Author's Note~**

_So, were Vienna and Sable in-character? Please tell us if not._

**Of course, we'll be bringing more of our own clones into this besides Zenith and Shard. Maybe even some hunters, too. We'll put in two clone bios next chapter.**

_Review and tell us what you think! Bye!_


	3. Found

_Good news! We're going to start working on the next chapter of Crescent Moon after this!_

**Hooray, let's hope writer's block doesn't strike again. By the way, just so you know:**

"(insert dialogue here)": normal talking

"_(insert dialogue here)"_: telepathy

_There's a little bit of that, so yeah. By the way, can someone please tell us how to put in those lines that seperate the chapter into sections? We can't figure it out!_

_Disclaimer!_

**Disclaimer: We own nothing. Too lazy to write the entire thing out.**

**Chapter 3: Found**

It was night in the forest, and completely quiet except for the occasional sound of nocturnal Pokémon. Another two years had passed since the first clones of the newly-revived Project Zenith had awakened, and there were many more of them now. They kept a low profile, and most of them never left the forest. However, these clones were not on the mind of a certain Pokémon as she desperately ran through the forest.

The Pokémon jumped from tree branch to tree branch, moving so fast that by the time she landed on one she was already leaping to the next. She was a Tyrogue, and though difficult to see in the dark, the side of her head was purple and there was a star pattern on both her hands. She was female because she was a human-made clone that had been created shortly after the humans had discovered the abandoned project's revival. Now however, she was far away from the humans, and determined to stay that way, despite the fact that she had pursuers.

The branch that the Tyrogue had just been standing on a split second ago was suddenly destroyed by a Cross Chop. The attack knocked her off-balance and sent her crashing to the ground with a graceless landing. However, when she saw a second shape standing over her, she managed to roll to the side just before the Pound attack connected.

The Tyrogue recovered quickly after that, getting back on her feet and glaring defiantly at the Pokémon, a Sceptile wearing a red and gold scarf. The Sceptile glared back, but there was a hint of remorse in his eyes.

"Please Rush, I don't want to have to do this. Just come back with us, and we'll forget this happened. We can get back before the humans notice our disappearances." He tried to reason with her, but the Tyrogue, Rush, shook her head.

"No, I can't come back, not after seeing what they've done to the clones we captured! Those were Pokémon who were just like me, and all those horrible experiments…" Rush left her sentence at that, because the first Pokémon, a Primeape with a metal pack on his back, had attacked with Brick Break, forcing her to dodge.

"I know you, Ace!" She said to the Sceptile. "If you saw what they did to those clones, you wouldn't be trying to bring me back!"

Ace's gaze displayed guilt at this, and he diverted his eyes away from the Tyrogue's own. He didn't say anything, but Rush realized what this meant.

"You knew?" She gasped. "You knew all this time, and you didn't tell me?"

"Rage knew, too!" The Primeape shouted out, laughing at her look of horror. "All hunters know what happen to puny clones!"

"You were too similar to them." Ace explained. "If you had known, you would have gone against our goal."

"Well, that's pointless now, isn't it? I know now, and I'm not coming back." Rush said, determination returning to her.

"Hah! Don't need you to come back. Rage will kill you, traitor!" The Primeape, Rage, cried out. He charged towards Rush for another attack, but the Tyrogue was faster. She ducked the blow and lashed out with a Mach Punch at his leg. The attack connected, and the Primeape was knocked off his feet. He crashed to the ground, but Rush had already rolled out from underneath him.

"I'm never coming back. I'll find them…" The Tyrogue said. Without looking back, she took off again, the two hunters right behind her.

**~Zenith's Lab~**

"Come on, Alone! Play with me!" Shard cried out to a Pokémon hiding behind a cloning tank. The Pokémon was an Unown, though she didn't resemble any letter or symbol. She was just an eye within a black circle, akin to a period. The Unown was visibly shaking as she looked out from her hiding spot.

"_Just go away… please…"_ She pleaded telepathically, looking absolutely terrified.

Shard didn't seem to get the message though, because she persisted further. "But I don't know where the others are! The only other one here is Grey!"

"_G-Go play with her then…"_ Alone said.

"Okay!" Shard said, brightening up. She turned to a Darkrai with a light green eye and purple goggles who was concealed in a dark corner unlit by the room lights. "Grey, wanna play with me?"

"No, don't ask me again." Grey said instantly, as if she had expected the question.

Shard looked crushed at the harsh refusal, but quickly shrugged it off and put a smile back on. "Kay, I'll just ask Alone again!"

The Pachirisu clone turned back to the unfortunate Unown. "Alone-"

"_Please… just… GO AWAY!"_ Unable to take the uncomfortable feelings she got around Shard, Alone unleashed a Hidden Power that struck the Pachirisu dead on. She was sent flying back several feet and landed on the ground. She lay there, unmoving, for several seconds.

Suddenly, the clone jumped back onto her feet, her smile even wider than before. "That was so much fun! Do it again!"

Before she could continue to obliviously terrify the Unown clone, a voice called out to her from the doorway. "I think you've scarred her enough for one day, Shard. Couldn't you have picked a clone who wasn't afraid of the very ground to annoy?"

Shard turned towards the speaker with a wide grin. "Arieva!" She squealed, shooting across the ground and hurling herself at the Pokémon, a Jolteon with a black mane. Said Jolteon saw it coming, however, and ducked, letting the Pachirisu overshoot and crash face-first into the wall behind her.

"You should stop doing that. You're going to give yourself even more brain damage than you have already." Arieva quipped. Shard, who had fallen to the ground, picked herself up and turned around, ignoring the pain she felt from hitting a wall.

"Okay! Wanna play with me?" Shard asked eagerly.

Arieva rolled her eyes. "Is that the only thing you think about?"

The Pachirisu nodded happily, receiving a sigh from the other clone. "Alright, I'll play. Let's find some of the others first, though."

"Okay! I'll find them, just leave it to me!" Shard took off down the hall, looking for more clones. Arieva was about to follow her when someone spoke up behind her.

"Hey Arieva! Wait up!" The Jolteon turned and saw a Mew clone fly towards her. "What are you and Shard doing?"

"Oh, hey Ella." Arieva greeted. "Nothing much; Shard wants to play a game again."

"I see. Mind if I join in?" Ella asked. The Mew was a special clone; the storage room originally did not have any Mew DNA. However, on one of his explorations of Sinnoh, Zenith had the fortune of running into the real Mew herself. Zenith talked with the playful Legendary and befriended her. After explaining the project to her, Mew decided that it sounded like fun, and willingly gave the Uxie some of her fur, hoping that he would make one who was more like her than Mewtwo. He created a perfect Mew clone with the fur.

Arieva shrugged. "Sure, why not? Let's go, the crazy Pachirisu is probably halfway across the lab by now." Ella giggled softly, then followed the Jolteon clone.

As it turns out, Shard was only a quarter of the way across the lab. She had finally managed to find some of the other clones: Vienna, Sable, and a Wartortle with a cannon on the left side of his shell. She had apparently already persuaded Vienna and Sable to play, and was now trying to convince the Wartortle.

"Come on, Canon, please?" Shard begged the Wartortle. He just grunted and turned away.

"Forget it. Why would I play with a runt like you?" He scoffed.

"Hey, you can't talk to her like that!" Ella shouted. She and Arieva had just arrived, and the Mew instantly came to Shard's defense.

"Yeah, I can. I'm the strongest clone here!" Canon boasted.

"Oh really? The strongest one here?" A different voice rang out from the doorway.

"Heh, that's a laugh." Another one said.

Every clone there turned to see the new arrivals. A Houndour with black ankle bands and a Jirachi with emerald-green eyes stood and floated there, respectively.

"You're far from the strongest." The Jirachi taunted. "All you do is charge straight into a battle without an ounce of strategy or planning."

The Houndour frowned slightly at this. "Actually, Jia, you're really not one to talk about being reckless in battle like that."

Jia glared down at the Houndour. "Shut up, Feyr."

Feyr smirked and turned her attention back to Canon. "But anyway, since your ego needs to be brought down in size, you're definitely not the most powerful clone in this lab."

"_You are quite right, 005."_ A telepathic voice echoed in the room. Right after, Zenith teleported in, though he had another Pokémon with him, a Pichu with a spiky left ear. He telekinetically set the Pichu onto the ground and smirked at Canon.

"Wow, it's like we're having a party. So many Pokémon." Sable noticed, though he wasn't really paid much attention as Zenith had started speaking.

"Afterall, 004, I recall beating you very easily." The Uxie said.

"Yeah, you couldn't even land a single hit on him!" Arieva laughed at Canon.

This earned her a glare from the Wartortle. "Shut up, I'd like to see you do better."

"So, who's this? She looks familiar." Feyr asked, deciding to change the subject to the Pichu, who had not moved from her spot and had just been staring in the group's direction.

"I expect that she would, to the older clones." Zenith said. "This is 013, though I suppose if you want to be specific, she would be 013-2."

"013-2?" Vienna asked.

"As in version 2." Zenith clarified.

"Wait a minute, I recognize her!" Jia yelled. "She's that Pichu that went missing a year and a half ago!"

"Actually, 003, that clone is still missing. This is a different 013, made from the same DNA, since I had some left over." Zenith said.

Jia glared daggers at the Uxie clone. "How many time do I have to tell you that my name is Jia? I hate being called 003!"

"I am well aware of that, 003, but I will continue to call you by the number I gave you." Zenith said.

"Why?" Jia cried.

"Well obviously, my mission in life is to screw with you and annoy you in every way possible." Zenith said, his voice heavy with thinly-concealed sarcasm. "Does that answer your question?"

"Why you-" The Jirachi clone began.

"SO ANYWAY…" Feyr yelled out, interrupting Jia and drawing attention back to the original topic. "Zenith, is there something wrong with her? She's not reacting at all." The Houndour was waving her paw in front of the Pichu's face, trying to get a reaction.

The Pichu's expression became one of mild shock at her words, and a small spark of electricity leapt from her cheek. She took hold of Feyr's paw with her own, and was able to hold it in place despite it being much bigger than her hand. She glared towards Feyr, but it was only when the Houndour looked into the Pichu's eyes did she realize what was wrong.

"She's not looking at me!" Feyr cried out, startling the other clones, minus Zenith. "She's looking towards me!"

"Um, isn't that the same thing?" Ella asked.

Feyr shook her head. "No, I mean she can't see me. She's blind!"

"WHAT?" Jia yelled, glaring at Zenith again. "Did you do that?"

"Of course." The Uxie admitted. "I altered her DNA to produce the trait for blindness."

"Why?" Ella asked.

"Science, my dear 094." Zenith said. "However, don't think that I was cruel enough to leave her completely helpless. She may be blind, but she can see electricity. She can send out shockwaves to see, much like echolocation, and she can see the electromagnetic pulses in the brain to directly track Pokémon. She can move and fight just as well as any of you."

Feyr looked a little doubtful, but turned to the blind Pichu, who still held her paw. "Hey, can you let go… um… Hey Zenith, does she have a name?"

"Well, considering that she awakened about twenty minutes ago, no. You can give her one, I suppose. I must be going, though, so good-bye!" Zenith teleported out, leaving the clones to themselves once more.

"I hate that guy! Always teleporting in and out as he pleases…" Jia grumbled, though she was ignored.

"Hmm, what should we call you?" Feyr asked the Pichu. She just shrugged and didn't say anything. "Well you're very helpful…"

"…Ruxa." The Pichu said, startling the clones slightly, as they had suspicions that she was mute as well as blind.

"Ruxa? Well, I suppose it works. After all, it's your name." Feyr shrugged.

Ruxa nodded. "I'm going to find Zenith." She sent out a small wave of electricity that was too weak to even paralyze, then carefully manuevered her way across the equipment, clones, and wires on the ground to leave the room.

The Pokémon were silent for a while before Shard spoke up again, having been quiet the whole time. "So Canon, do you want to play with us now?"

Before Canon could respond, Jia asked, "You're playing a game?"

Shard nodded. "Mm-hm. Wanna join?"

"Sure, I'm in. What are we playing?" Feyr asked.

Arieva shrugged. "Don't know yet. Still thinking."

"You know what we should do?" Jia asked, a mischievous smirk on her face. "We should go out. Explore the forest."

"What?" Vienna gasped, her eyes widening. "But what about the clones that have been disappearing? It's not safe out there, especially not at night."

"Jet does it all the time." Jia pointed out.

"Speaking of which, has anyone seen Jet today?" Arieva asked.

"I saw Soru and Nina this morning." Ella said.

"That doesn't really answer my question…" The Jolteon said, sweat-dropping.

"I say we go! Screw Zenith's rules!" Jia said. "Besides, with all eight of us, we'll surely be safe against any possible attacks."

"Wait, eight?" Canon asked. "Only seven of you are playing this stupid game."

"Wrong, you're coming with." Jia smirked.

"WHAT?" Canon yelled. "I don't want to come!"

"Too bad, you're coming with us, whether you like it or not!" Jia said.

"Are we going to teleport out?" Ella asked.

"Of course, how else are we going to get a group this big outside quickly?" The Jirachi said.

Jia and Ella then teleported the group of clones outside the laboratory, on the outskirts of the forest.

"Let's go guys, it'll be fun!" Shard yelled, climbing up a tree and waiting for everyone to enter the woods.

"I can't believe I have to come!" Canon grumbled.

"Too bad. Maybe if we're lucky, some unfortunate Pokémon will come and pick a fight with us." Arieva said, walking behind him. She gave him a less-than-gentle push forward. "Now move!"

"I am going to hurt you so badly in our next battle…" Canon growled.

"I'd like to see you try, heh heh." Arieva chuckled, moving away from the Wartortle to walk beside Sable.

The group of cloned Pokémon continued walking through the forest for about ten minutes. Absolutely nothing happened during that time except for a few arguments between the more more irritable and sarcastic Pokémon.

"To be honest, I was really hoping something was going to happen out here." Jia told Ella.

The Mew clone smiled and flew ahead a little. She turned around and said, "Now why do we have to get into a battle? Why can't we just enjoy a peaceful stroll through the-"

She never got to finish, because at that moment, a Pokémon burst through the foliage and crashed into the Mew. This sent them both hurtling into a tree, with Ella taking most of the impact.

"…Ow…I think you broke something…" Ella gasped, pushing the Pokémon off of her. She lifted herself into the air, and noticed that while she wasn't very hurt physically, she still felt a little sore.

"Hmm, you know, I always thought crash-into hellos only happened on TV shows." Sable muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Arieva asked him.

"Nothing." The Luxio said quickly.

Ella looked at her assailant, which was revealed to be a Tyrogue who looked pretty hurt. Shard hopped down from a tree and next to the Pokémon.

"He looks nice. I don't think he wants to hurt us." Shard looked at the Tyrogue's face. "What's your name?"

"Uhh…my name's Rush, and I'm female." The Tyrogue answered.

"What? But we were taught that Tyrogues were a male-only species." Feyr said. "For you to be female, you'd have to be genetically altered."

"Yeah well, I've always been this way." Rush said, standing back up with some difficulty.

"Wait, aren't you hurt?" Feyr asked.

"It's nothing, I've taken worse. I have to go though, before they catch up…" Rush said.

"Who?" Feyr asked again.

Her question was answered when a Sceptile and Primape burst out into the tiny clearing they were in. The Primeape looked at Rush and began laughing.

"Hahah, traitor no match for Rage!" Rage boasted.

"…Them." Rush groaned, cursing her bad luck.

Ace looked down at the Pokémon and gave them a kind smile. "We have no reason to harm you. Just let us take her with us."

"Me don't care, Rage hurt anyone who get in way!" The Primeape scoffed.

"What did she ever do to you?" Ella asked, glaring at the two.

"She traitor! We kill her and bring her back!" Rage shouted.

"Haven't you ever heard of an indoor voice?" Jia asked angrily.

Ace then took notice of her and looked between the Jirachi and Ella. "A Jirachi and Mew in the same place? How is that possible? Jirachi is supposed to be asleep!"

Jia rolled her eyes. "Do I look asleep to you, buddy? What does that tell you?"

"She's not a bad Pokémon." Shard said softly, referring to Rush. "Don't let them hurt her."

Arieva, who had heard, seemed surprised at the Pachirisu's concern. She stepped up to the Sceptile. "I don't know who you are, but until you tell us exactly what she's done, we have no reason to stand aside and let you kill her."

The Jolteon then smirked evilly as her fur began to glow and sharpen. "Besides, I've been itching for a fight all night."

She released a Pin Missle attack straight at Ace, who intinctively dodged out of the way. However, the Pin Missles struck the tree behind him with unnatural force, pushing it further and further until the last ones sent it toppling over with a loud crash. There were so many needles in its bark that it looked like a glowing, vegetative Sandslash.

Ace's eyes widened at the strength of the attack. "If we hadn't left our equipment behind we would have noticed sooner, but it looks like my suspicions were right." He looked at Rage. "Rage, they're clones from Project Zenith!"

"Good, now Rage can kill them and bring them back, too!" The Primeape shouted, preparing to fight again.

Ella, Jia, and Feyr each let out a quiet "Oh no…" while everyone else, including Rush, shouted a collective "WHAT?"

"What are you talking about?" Arieva asked, backing up towards the group of clones just the slightest bit, though still on guard. "What does us being clones have to do with anything?"

"I'm sorry if you don't know what's going on, but that unfortunately does not change anything." Ace said. "We still have to capture you. Don't worry, I won't kill you."

The Sceptile's arm leaves glowed and lengthened, and he swung his Leaf Blade towards the closest member of the group.

**~Author's Note~**

_CLIFFHANGER!_

**So, lot's of OC's in this chapter. Hope we wrote them right, though I can't shake the feeling that we did something wrong with Canon…**

_Also, we do intend to include every OC we've received so far. If they haven't appeared yet, it just means we didn't have room in this chapter._

_Also, because we said we'd put in two more OC bios:_

Name: Feyr

Species: Houndour

Gender: Female

Experiment number: 005

Clone or Hunter: Clone

Personality: Feyr acts as a mother figure towards most of the clones. She has a sharp wit and can be sarcastic, but she is actually a very kind and friendly Pokémon. She has a lot of determination and courage, and will do anything to protect the other clones. She enjoys fighting, not to the extent of some of the other clones, but she won't back down from a fight and will battle with all of her strength. She is pretty trusting of others as long as they haven't wronged her, and she'll protect anyone who she thinks needs it.

History: The fifth of the clones, and the forth one of Zenith's creation. She was part of the second set to finish, along with Jia and Canon.

Moves: Bite, Fire Fang, Flamethrower, Sunny Day, Faint Attack, Shadow Ball

Thoughts on Zenith: "He created us, and despite his odd nature, I trust him."

Thoughts on Shard: "She's very nice, though it's hard to believe she's actually older than me."

Other: Her ankle bands are black, not white.

Name: Ruxa

Species: Pichu

Gender: Female

Experiment number: 013

Clone or Hunter: Clone

Personality: Despite being the youngest clone, Ruxa has an extremely serious personality. She hardly acts childish, and while she can understand jokes and taunts, she doesn't see their importance. She rarely talks, but when she does, she doesn't waste words. She doesn't think of her own blindness as a disability, having been created with it, but she hates when other Pokémon treat her differently because of it. She prefers not to fight, but when she does, she attacks with quick and devestating moves. Very unsocial towards the other clones, she mostly stays with Zenith and has undying loyalty towards him.

History: The original 013 went missing a year and a half ago. For unknown reasons, Zenith decided to create a new clone from the remaining DNA, though with an alteration to make her blind. The second 013 has just finished development, making her the youngest clone as of now.

Moves: Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, Iron Tail, Rain Dance, Thunder, Volt Tackle

Thoughts on Zenith: "He truly does care about us, even if it is simply the way a scientist cares for his experiments. As long as we don't betray him, he will protect us. I will stand by him."

Thoughts on Shard: "I don't understand you. You're one of the oldest clones, but you act like a newborn."

Other: She is blind and has a spiky left ear.

**So yeah, review and tell us what you think. Bye now!**


	4. First Fight Against the Hunters

_Did you know that in English, the move Vengeance is called Retaliation?_

**Are you just going to ignore the fact that it took us like a month to update?**

_Yes, I am, and you're all going to deal with it!_

**On note of the actually story, though, I'm not too proud of this chapter. I don't think we're very good at fight scenes, but you can be the judge of that.**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing. Do we even need this in the Pokémon section?**

**Chapter 4: First Fight Against the Hunters**

**~Project Zenith Laboratory~**

Zenith floated solemnly in an empty room towards the back of the lab. This was the only room that had never been used to create multiple clones, only one. Now though, the tank that had housed that one clone was destroyed, its glass pieces strewn all over the floor around it. Zenith never bothered to clean it up; he thought that it would serve as a reminder to him of his one failure.

The Uxie let out a long sigh. "Where did I go wrong? Perhaps the dark-type energy from 018 was too strong, but surely I would have foreseen that… It seems that, despite my intelligence, I still have much to learn."

Zenith extended his psychic awareness to cover the entire room, feeling its energy. Although it's one occupant had long since left, he could still feel traces of nothingness, a void of energy that could only belong to a dark-type.

Zenith felt a twinge of frustration as he thought of his failure and what it could bring about for his creations. "010, it's you, isn't it? The one that is-"

"Zenith?" A small voice called. Snapped out of his thoughts, the Uxie turned to see Ruxa standing in the doorway. "May I come in?"

Zenith smiled slightly as he beckoned the blind Pichu. "Of course you may. It may be for the better that you see this, anyway."

The Pichu sent out another small electric wave and began to move into the room. She stopped suddenly, biting back a cry of pain as she accidently stepped on a piece of glass. She pulled it out, though the wound left behind was thankfully small. She moved much more carefully the rest of the way to her creator.

"013. Feel the energy within this room." Zenith commanded.

Ruxa nodded. Being blind heightened her other senses considerably, and this meant she could feel the energy of others in a sort of sixth sense. She couldn't feel it as strongly as Zenith, but she could still feel the darkness left within the room.

Ruxa shivered slightly. "Was this the one who-?"

"Yes, I believe he was." Zenith answered.

"…Why did you bring me back?" Ruxa asked. "What makes me so important that that a second attempt was needed after the first was destroyed?"

Zenith smiled and chuckled slightly at the question. "I've seen the future. Future Sight may not see more than a few years ahead, and it may be vague, but it still gets its message across. Someday, you are going to play a role in stopping this threat to us."

"Threat?" Ruxa repeated, confused.

"I'm hoping that it is just one that poses a danger to us. Although, there are so many variables in this situation. The disappearance of so many clones has begun to worry me, as I have yet to locate them. I do not know what is going on, but I fear that it going to become very disastrous…"

Ruxa looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to look up at him. "We should tell the others, then. If you think that we are in danger, it will do no good to keep it a secret."

Zenith nodded. "You may be right. I have already told a select few, but it would likely be better to tell all of them. However, quite a few have already left the laboratory. We will have to wait until they get back before I can share my suspicions."

**~Forest~**

Arieva, the one closest to Ace, jumped back before his Leaf Blade could connect. "Ah! What in the name of Arceus are you doing? How'd you know we were clones?"

"Your attacks are much more powerful than any other Pokémon of your level. Besides that, there are two legendaries with you; one that is rarely seen, and another that should be sleeping for another several hundred years!" Ace answered.

Arieva growled and jumped forward, electricity lacing her teeth. She latched onto Ace's arm and discharged the electricity of her Thunder Fang. The Sceptile clenched his teeth to keep from crying out, then swung his arm towards a tree, crashing Arieva against it forcefully. The Jolteon let go and slid to the ground, stunned by the impact.

Before Ace could attack the downed clone again, Canon slammed into him with a Skull Bash and sent the Sceptile crashing into a different tree. Rage jumped forward and used Mega Kick on Canon, though, knocking him away. The Primeape ran after the Wartortle to continue the battle.

While Ace was picking himself up, Ella teleported directly in front of him, smiling cutely. Surprised by the action, he failed to notice the small Aura Sphere forming between Ella's paws before it suddenly grew in size and was hurled into his face. The attack blew the hunter straight through the tree and into another one behind it.

Ella turned and smiled at the clones that hadn't gone to help Canon fight Rage. "This isn't too hard. I think Zenith may have been over-"

"Look out!" Vienna suddenly cried. Ella turned just as a Dragon Pulse hit here and knocked her out of the air. Ace jumped back into the small clearing, a little bruised, but still full of energy.

"Dang, he's tough." Ella grunted, picking herself up. A small, white ball formed between her hands. "I hope this works…"

The Metronome attack burst outward, transforming into a jet of flames. Ace's eyes widened in shock, but he managed to jump out of the way at the last second.

"Aw, come on! The one time I get something effective with that move, and it misses!" Ella yelled in frustration.

"I think we've got bigger problems than that right now…" Sable said, his voice holding fear. Ella looked back at where her Flamethrower had hit: a tree that had now caught fire and was quickly spreading to the others.

Rush, thinking quickly, yelled at Vienna, "You! You're a water-type, put it out!"

"Um, right!" Vienna said, snapping back to reality. She used Water Gun, successfully putting out the small fire after several seconds before it could grow any further.

"New rule! No fire-type moves!" Ella shouted at Feyr, who along with Canon, Jia, and Arieva, was helping fight against Rage.

"I've already noticed, thanks!" She called back. Suddenly, Rage nailed her with a critical Mega Punch. The Houndour was sent flying before she crashed into the ground, unconscious.

"Feyr!" Arieva cried out. She glared daggers at Rage. "Now you're going to get it!"

The Jolteon's body erupted in the red aura of Retaliation, and she charged forward. She hit the Primeape dead on, sending him crashing to the ground. Rage displayed some considerable trouble in getting back up.

As he stood up, Rage's body was enveloped in a blue glow. Jia, whose ribbons were floating with the same energy, psychically threw the Primeape into another tree. Canon tucked inside his shell and used Rapid Spin, smashing him through the tree he was thrown against.

Ace's arm leaves glowed green again, and he swung the Leaf Blade towards Vienna. However, before the attack could connect, Sable jumped in the way and took the attack. The blade sliced across his chest, leaving a long, but thankfully, not lethal, gash. Sable let out a soundless gasp and collapsed.

"Sable!" Vienna cried. Glaring at Ace, she jumped into the air and slashed her claws downward in an Aerial Ace. The attack slashed across the Sceptile's stomach, drawing blood from the wound. Ace grunted loudly, but he managed to knock the Croconaw away with Pound.

"Why are they attacking us?" Shard asked Rush. Both were staying out of the fight; Rush because she was injured, and Shard because she was worried about the Tyrogue and didn't like fighting.

"They're hunters, kid." Rush answered. "They're Pokémon that are trained to hunt clones like you and me."

"You're a clone?" Shard asked.

"Yeah, it's why I'm female. Can't believe that you guys are cloned Pokémon too, though." Rush said.

"Uh huh! We're Zenith's clones! Daddy made us!" The Pachirisu chirped.

"Zenith? What a coincidence that I'd end up meeting and getting help from Project Zenith…" The Tyrogue trailed off.

"That's it! You made Rage angry! Now you get it!" Rage bellowed. He swung his arm, brutally batting Arieva away, then smashed it down in a Brick Break on top of Canon. Canon kept back his shout of pain, but when the arm was removed, there were several cracks running along his shell.

Jia used Psychic to knock the Primeape away from Canon, then turned to Ella. "This place is too crowded! We need more room!"

Focusing her power, Jia used Psychic to rip several trees from the ground and throw them back, making the small clearing much larger. However, she did take one of the trees and use it like a bat to hit and knock away Ace. When she tried it on Rage, the Primeape grabbed the tree and managed to hurl it out of the way.

Having more room to move around, Ella used Transform to turn into a Pidgeot, then used Air Slash, sending waves of sharp wind forward. The other clones jumped out of the way, but both hunters were struck by the attack and took serious damage.

Ace stopped, panting heavily, and turned to his battered companion. "There are too many, and we were ill-prepared. We need to retreat for now."

Rage glared at the Sceptile, but a look at the remaining conscious clones, most of which were still capable of fighting, convinced him to relent. "Fine. This isn't over! Rage will beat you next time!"

"You can try!" Jia taunted, smirking cockily. The Primeape glared at her, looking ready to attack again, but he just turned around and ran back into the forest with Ace.

Now that the hunters were gone, Vienna and Arieva tended to the unconscious forms of Feyr and Sable, and Jia floated over to Canon to check up on him.

"You okay?" Jia meant for it be sincere, but she couldn't keep her natural mocking tone completely out of the question.

Canon glared at her briefly, then looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine. It'll take more than that to bring me down.

Jia eyed the cracks in his shell, frowning slightly. "That's a pretty nasty wound."

Canon shrugged. "It'll heal, and if it doesn't, we have medical equipment at the lab for this sort of stuff."

The Jirachi clone nodded and left, flying over to Ella, who had transformed back. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, we need to get back to the lab. Sable and Feyr should be okay, but it's always good to make sure." The Mew answered.

"What about her?" Jia asked, pointing to Rush, who was still being watched by Shard. "Can we trust her?"

"She was running away from those Pokémon, too. I don't think she wants to hurt us." Ella said. "Besides, she's a clone just like us, judging from her gender. Tyrogues are an all-male species, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are." Jia confirmed. "Fine, we'll trust her for now. Besides, she's one Pokémon, she can't take us all. Let's just get back to the lab."

"Kay." Ella nodded, transforming back into a Pidgeot. Jia used Psychic to set the two unconscious clones onto Ella's back, who took off flying, back in the direction of the lab.

"We should hurry, before Zenith gets angry." Vienna said.

Jia rolled her eyes. "I could care less about the feelings of out "father", but we do need to get back. There are too many of us for me to teleport by myself, though, so let's get walking."

**~Author's Note~**

_Yeah, no new characters in this chapter. Next one should see to the introduction of more of the hunters._

**Sorry for the wait, by the way. We do tend to be easily distracted though, so we won't make any promises about the next update, since we won't be able to stick to it, most likely.**

_However, we can promise that the next update will be on Crescent Nightmare. Bye now!_


	5. New Answers, New Questions

…_Not a word about the wait! We're well aware of how long this took!_

**Sorry, updates will come when inspiration comes, and inspiration isn't coming very easily. We're as disappointed in ourselves as you are.**

**Chapter 5: New Answers, New Questions**

**~Hunter Base~**

Ace and Rage finally emerged from the forest and came to a building at its edge. They made their way around the structure to its side, where a door and a keypad were located. Ace hastily punched in a code on the keypad, and the door slid aside, revealing a passage into the building. The two hunters made their way through it and came out to a large training area where several other Pokémon were battling or just conversing.

"Rage, do what you will. I'll go inform the humans about what has just happened." Ace told the Primeape.

Rage just grunted and turned away. "Rage no care. Rage just need to get anger out."

As the Primeape ran off to the battling areas, Ace silently pitied the unfortunate hunter that would end up as Rage's sparring partner. He was about to depart himself when a soft voice called out behind him.

"Ace, you've returned." The Sceptile turned and saw a shiny Absol approach him. It was hard to read the Absol's expression, but Ace knew that he was glad to see him.

"Sides, so you've noticed my absence." Ace said.

Sides nodded. "Indeed, many of us have noticed. You've been gone for four hours."

Ace was mildly shocked by the news. "Has it really been that long? I must have lost track of time, it felt a lot shorter than that."

"If I may ask, what were you doing out there?" Sides asked.

"I'll tell you what he was doing." A smug voice said. Both Pokémon looked at the newcomer, a Persian with a black fedora on his head.

"Arthur, I can explain it just fine myself." Ace groaned.

"No no, you must be tired from your little adventure. I'll explain it for you." Arthur turned to Sides and smirked at the harsh stare that the Absol was giving him. "You see, Ace and that brainless Fighting-type were chasing our little runaway Tyrogue clone throughout the forest. Judging by how only they returned and that the Primeape was obviously angry, I'm guessing that you failed to catch her, correct?"

Ace looked a little ashamed and turned avoided the Persian's gaze, confirming his belief.

"Runaway Tyrogue? Rush has deserted the hunters?" Sides asked, surprised at the idea.

"Seems so. I witnessed them run out one of the other exit paths, a less crowded one if I'm not mistaken." Arthur answered.

"So you saw it, but didn't try and stop her because…?" Ace asked, glaring at the Persian.

Arthur gave a casual shrug. "I assumed the two of you had it under control. There were a few other hunters who saw the scene as well, but didn't understand the urgency of the situation. Now, care to tell why Rush decided to flee with such little warning? Not that I care about the weak little Pokémon, but it's always good to know."

Ace averted his gaze again, looking at the ground. "…She found out about the experiments that were being conducted on the captured clones. Apparently she saw a connection between herself and them, and was horrified enough to run away."

Arthur just shook his head and smirked. "I knew that using clones as hunters was a bad idea. Sure, they're stronger than their natural counterparts, but they simply cannot be trusted. Rush isn't the only evidence of that. Though with her gone, I suppose one of our problems is out of the way."

Ace frowned. "Not exactly. She left with the intention of finding the clones created by Project Zenith. She succeeded."

"You found the Project Zenith clones, then? How near did you come to the laboratory?" Sides asked.

"I don't think near enough that the Uxie could have detected us, but it's still worrisome. Rage and I encountered eight clones, two of which were legendaries. It stands to reason that there may be more at the base."

Sides thought this through. "It was foolish to leave all of the DNA material within the lab. Though, the Uxie clone surviving in the first place was an unforeseen event…"

"Which legendaries?" Arthur asked.

"A Mew and Jirachi. All of the clones were rather powerful, though. Inexperienced, but powerful. We were at a disadvantage back then; we were too outnumbered." Ace answered.

"It would help if we knew how many there were in total, though, so that we could properly prepare for the possibility of an attack." Sides said.

"True, though Rush being with the Project Zenith clones could be a problem. She may have been left in the dark about many things, but the information she does have could prove dangerous if they figure out how to utilize it." Ace said.

"And since the Uxie clone has the intelligence capacity of the Being of Knowledge himself, that is quite likely." Arthur agreed.

Sides, thought for a moment, before an idea suddenly hit him. "We can use the trackers."

"What?" Ace asked, not having quite heard him.

"The trackers that the humans put in all of the hunters when we first joined them; they act as tracking devices as well as cameras so the humans can always see what is happening no matter where we are. We can use the tracker within Rush to see inside the lab and evaluate the clones; see how many there are, as well as their species and abilities." Sides explained.

"With that sort of information, we could even launch a proper assault against the clones and end this." Arthur mused, taking a liking to the idea.

"That may actually work. The only problem is conveying that idea to the humans." Ace said.

"That shouldn't be a problem. Once they realize Rush is missing they'll attempt to find her with the tracker, and the rest should just fall into place." Arthur replied.

Ace nodded. "Then all we have to do is wait, then?"

"Yes, all we have to do is wait."

**~Project Zenith Laboratory~**

Zenith teleported just outside the laboratory and looked up towards the sky where Ella and her injured passengers were descending. He wasn't actually seeing them, but he knew they were there, and he knew what state they were in.

"How unfortunate. I'm ready to tell my experiments all about my fears and suspicions, and something happens to postpone that. Such a bother, I wonder if this is a sign?"

Ella landed and smiled sheepishly at him. "Um, hi Zenith… I can explain, really!"

The Mew telepathically relayed what had happened to Zenith, who just shook his head and smiled. "It really is a bother, but it can't be helped. Take 005 and 011 inside."

"Of course." Ella shifted her form into a Meganium, holding the two unconscious Pokémon with her vines. Before she could go inside, though, Zenith stopped her.

"One more question," The Uxie said. "This new clone, where is she?"

"With the others. She wasn't hurt too badly, so she's walking with the rest of them."

"Very well, I'll wait then. This is a very important development, after all." Zenith mused. "You may leave now, 094. I have no more questions for you."

Ella nodded and left. It was several minutes later when the rest of the group emerged from the forest. Zenith smiled and greeted them.

"Welcome back. I hope you all had fun." He said.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun. I haven't had a fight quite like that in a while." Canon replied.

"If you want, the two of us can go have a battle right now." Arieva offered him. "How about it?"

"No thanks, I'm going to go get something for my shell right now." Canon said.

Arieva shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm going to go see how Sable's doing, then."

"Indeed, why don't you all go inside right now? Except you, 062." Zenith said, gesturing towards the Tyrogue clone.

"How do you know my- Oh right, Psychic-type." Rush said.

Everyone else began to go back to the lab, though Shard and Jia stayed behind a bit longer.

"Bye Rush! See you inside!" Shard chirped, waving happily at the clone.

"Heh, you too, kid." Rush smiled sheepishly as the Pachirisu clone ran back inside.

Zenith turned towards Jia. "I take it you're not going to listen to me?"

Jia shrugged. "No, I'm going. I'm just telling you that you should tell everyone about our problem, now that two Pokémon are hurt because of it."

"I'm well aware of that. In fact, I was going to share my worries as soon as you all got back, but I guess that will have to wait for now."

"Whatever." Jia said, giving the Uxie clone one final glare before teleporting away.

"I have to wonder where all that rebellion and hatred came from." Zenith said to himself. "The mind is so complex, but that's what makes it worthwhile studying, of course."

"Um, hello?" Rush called out. "Did you want to talk with me about something?"

Zenith smiled as he "looked" down at her. "Of course. I have some questions for you, 062."

Rush frowned. "Um, I have a name, you know. It's Rush."

"I address all of my experiments by their numbers." Zenith told her.

"Well can you please call me by my name?" Rush asked.

"As I said, I call all of my experiments by their numbers. Why should I make an exception for you?" Zenith asked back.

"Because I'm not one of your experiments and because I asked politely." Rush answered.

Zenith thought about this for a moment, then shrugged. "Fair enough. So, Rush, I can tell by your gender alone that you're not a natural Pokémon. Care to elaborate?"

Rush was silent, debating with herself over whether she should share this information. Zenith noticed this and continued. "We're not going to harm you. Not unless you harm us first, anyway. If that is not your intention, then there's nothing for you to worry about."

The Tyrogue thought a bit more, before deciding that it was fine to tell him. "Well, I am, or was, a hunter. The hunters are a group of Pokémon used to hunt down the clones created through Project Zenith so that they don't become a threat to anyone."

Zenith nodded. "Interesting, though that much I figured out. Though, why would the humans create a clone to hunt down other clones? It's somewhat hypocritical."

Rush shrugged. "I think it's because they thought they could control me, whereas you're all broken off from the humans."

"True. Are there any other clones besides you?" Zenith asked.

Rush shook her head. "I don't think the humans made anymore besides myself. If they did, I never met them. Though, there was this one Pokémon that came to us…"

Zenith's head gem flashed briefly, and he smiled. "So that's where he went…"

"Pardon?" Rush raised an eyebrow.

"The Pokémon you mentioned, I know him. So he's been there all this time…" Zenith looked thoughtful as he spoke.

"Hey, I really don't appreciate you looking into my mind like that!" Rush said indignantly.

"I'm afraid that, considering what your presence here implies, that my suspicions are true and my experiments are in indeed in danger." Zenith replied.

"Yeah, but-" Rush began.

"If I need to look into your mind to gather the information that will keep my experiments alive, then I will." Zenith interrupted, his tone darkening. "Our survival is more important than your privacy."

Rush turned her gaze to the ground and didn't say anything. Zenith's smile returned and he beckoned her with his tail. "Come inside and meet everyone. Let's see if 005 and 011 are awake yet. I have some very important matters to discuss with all of them."

Rush looked back up and nodded. "Of course."

The two clones went back inside the building and into the main room, where all of the other Pokémon were gathered and conversing amongst themselves. Zenith was pleased to see that both Feyr and Sable were awake and talking with the others who had gone out into the forest.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Arieva asked Sable, as she was sitting next to him.

Sable gave her a small smile and nodded. "I told you, I'm fine. The wound wasn't that bad.

"Bad enough to make you faint in one hit, though." Arieva muttered.

"Yeah, well, I'm not that strong a fighter. And he was pretty powerful. Stronger than the ones in the forest, anyway." Sable said.

"The Pokémon in the forest are weaklings. It's hard not to be stronger than them." Canon said, listening in on their conversation.

Arieva glared at the Wartortle. "Don't butt in! We're talking here!"

"Arieva, I don't really mind-" Sable began, but Canon interrupted him.

"I have the right to free speech! I can talk if I want to!"

"You wanna fight about it!" Arieva growled, her fur crackling with electricity.

"Guys, really…" Sable murmured, but the two feuding Pokémon ignored him. They looked ready to start fighting right then and there when Zenith's mental voice rang out in all of the clone's heads.

"_Now now, quiet down, everyone. I have important news to share and I need everyone's full and undivided attention."_ Zenith said telepathically. _"Yes, that includes you, 004 and 013."_

Canon and Arieva looked away from each other, albeit reluctantly, and stared up at Zenith. "Sorry, Zenith." Canon apologized.

"That's quite alright, now, is everyone listening?" Zenith asked normally. They were all quiet, but Zenith could tell he held their attention. "Good! Let's get started then, shall we?"

"Who's the Tyrogue, Zenith?" A shiny Shaymin with dark blue flowers asked. "Is she a new clone?"

"In a sense." Zenith answered. "That, my dear 007, is Rush, experiment #062, created by the humans."

"What? They started a new project?" The Shaymin asked.

"Not quite. Perhaps you'd like to explain?" Zenith asked Rush.

"Um, sure." Rush looked at the Shaymin, noting the strange stare she was giving her. "Um, what's your name?"

"It's Luna." She replied.

"Right, Luna." Rush said. "Well, the humans, once they found out that Project Zenith had been revived, created a team of Pokémon to capture the clones the project created."

Most of the clones were shocked by this news. "How long has this been going on?" Ella asked.

"Several months, now, I believe. Maybe longer. I'm not sure, I was created about four months ago, so I wasn't there when it began."

"Created? Are you a hunter or a clone?" Luna asked.

"Well, both, but not anymore." Rush said. "I'm a clone that was raised as a hunter."

"Are you against us, then?" Luna questioned.

"No! I mean, I didn't know the things they were doing to the captured clones. When I found out, I couldn't live with what I had helped do, so I left the hunters." Rush explained.

Luna thought it over, then smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"You feel shame and regret for your past actions." Zenith deduced. "I take it that all of our missing experiments are the clones the hunters captured?"

"Yeah." Rush nodded. "The ones that weren't killed were taken back to this building outside the forest, where all the hunters are. The humans run tests on them, and they experiment on them to test their power levels, durability, pretty much anything that would show how they were different from normal Pokémon. The tests are cruel and the results aren't always pretty."

"I see…" Zenith said, thinking the information over. "How many hunters are there?"

"At least a few dozen, I'm not quite sure of the exact numbers." Rush answered.

"So why haven't the hunters attacked us yet?" Canon growled. "Why not attack the lab instead of just picking off any clones that wander off?"

"I expect the hunters know about as much about us as we know about them." Zenith said. "Likely, they are waiting to evaluate our strengths and numbers so that they are not ill-prepared for when they decide to attack."

"That's about right." Rush agreed. "They know you're powerful, so the humans have been training us to be just as strong."

"…I must say, I'm pleased that you've shown up here." Zenith said to her. "Before, I was only going to share my suspicions that had little evidence beyond guesswork, but you're existence and knowledge proves everything that I had previously suspected."

"Wait, you knew about this?" Arieva asked.

"Like I said, I had only fears and guesses that there was something hunting us, no certainty." Zenith said. "I didn't tell you all right away because I didn't want to make you worry needlessly, though I did tell a select few: 003, 018, and 094, though 094 told 005 by accident."

"Sorry…" Ella said sheepishly.

"You knew too?" Arieva asked Feyr.

"Yeah, Ella just kind of let it slip while we were talking once." The Houndour replied.

"Why did he tell you, Jia?" Shard asked the Jirachi. "You don't like him, right?"

"So? If you must know, I noticed how lost in thought he was once and pressured him until he told me." Jia explained, looking pleased with herself.

"Okay, so that leaves Grey. What about you?" Arieva asked the Darkrai clone.

"Personal reasons. That's all you need to know." Zenith answered for her.

He turned away and spoke up, addressing all of the clones "Well now, I suppose now this means we need to start preparing for a possible assault. Wonderful. Well, it's not like we were terribly busy or anything, though. Everyone get to sleep now. Our lives have just gotten that much more interesting!"

The clones all started to disperse, going off to their sleeping quarters, though Rush was being practically pulled there by Shard. Zenith remained where he was, thinking about what he had learned_. "If I had known that the humans would react so terribly to the Project's revival, I might have had second thoughts… No, these are my experiments, my creations, and I will protect them, no matter the cost. Besides, sometimes unorthodox decisions that go against the rules must be made in the name of science."_

**~Author's Note~**

**Woo, exposition.**

_Shut up. Hope you liked the chapter, review, blah blah blah… See you next time, and there will be a next time!_


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